TO THE EDITOR:
Martin Luther King Jr.’s quotes are particularly relevant to the battle over the Affordable Care Act in Congress.
“Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism,” Dr. King said, “or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.”
Tragically, the Republican-controlled Congress seems increasingly likely to “walk in the darkness of destructive selfishness” by repealing the Affordable Care Act without a viable replacement. Their budget also selfishly continues a tide of corporate giveaways and sweetheart tax deals for the wealthiest 1 percent while cutting Medicare and Social Security, all at the expense of middle- and working-class Americans.
Donald Trump ran on a promise to protect Medicare and Social Security, as well as keeping the most popular provisions of the ACA including the pre-existing conditions rule and coverage for young people on their parents’ plans until age 26.
He and many other Republicans promised to ensure access to affordable prescription drugs. So how do they plan to keep these popular provisions without the individual mandate which keeps healthier people into the insurance pool to offset the cost of sicker patients?
The answer is simple: You can’t.
Repealing the ACA would throw the health care industry into chaos, bankrupt millions of Americans, and issue a death sentence for those who depend on the ACA for life-saving care.
We’re now at a tragic tipping point where extremist partisan ideologues are putting profits before people while bowing down to the Big Pharma lobby and billion-dollar corporate special interests. What does walking in the darkness of destructive selfishness look like?
